{"id":19123,"date":"2016-12-26T20:39:33","date_gmt":"2016-12-26T12:39:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/from-startups-to-spaceships-ten-top-books-for-geeks-to-read-in-2017\/"},"modified":"2016-12-26T20:39:33","modified_gmt":"2016-12-26T12:39:33","slug":"from-startups-to-spaceships-ten-top-books-for-geeks-to-read-in-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/from-startups-to-spaceships-ten-top-books-for-geeks-to-read-in-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"From startups to spaceships: Ten top books for geeks to read in 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Bill
What\u2019s Bill Gates reading now? We\u2019re taking a guess. (Gates Foundation Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Geeks and books go together like athletes and balls, but just as there are different sports, there are different types of geek reading. We\u2019ve put together a top-10 list of books on a wide spectrum of geeky topics, all published over the past year.<\/p>\n

Some of these picks should help you prepare for what promises to be a \u2026 well, let\u2019s call it an \u201cinteresting\u201d year for geeks and everyone else. Others will provide an opportunity for respite and reflection, with a few geeky tweaks.<\/p>\n

In addition to the list you see here, check out our list of 21 science books for the holidays in 2016, plus this year\u2019s top five reads from Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. And don\u2019t be surprised if some of these top 10 for 2017 end up on Gates\u2019 reading list during the coming year.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u2018Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines and Habits of Billionaires, Icons and World-Class Performers\u2019:<\/strong> Tech investor\/author\/podcaster Timothy Ferriss pulls together words of wisdom from interviews he\u2019s conducted with celebrities, entrepreneurs \u2026 and yes, titans of industry. Here\u2019s an example from Peter Thiel, who co-founded PayPal and now serves as Donald Trump\u2019s top tech adviser: \u201cIf you have a 10-year plan of how to get somewhere, you should ask: Why can\u2019t you do this in six months?\u201d Perfect to read while you\u2019re waiting to meet with your new angel investor. And for what it\u2019s worth, GeekWire Deals has a \u201cTools of Titans\u201d giveaway going on.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u2018Hood: Trailblazer of the Genomics Age\u2019:<\/strong> Veteran Seattle biotech journalist Luke Timmerman chronicles the complicated life of Leroy Hood, who pioneered DNA sequencing, went on to the University of Washington and the Institute for Systems Biology, and co-founded Arivale, an innovative personal health startup. GeekWire co-founder and editor Todd Bishop says the book is \u201cnot just a historical record but a foundation for understanding breakthroughs still to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\u2018I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life\u2019:<\/strong> Science writer Ed Yong\u2019s book about microbes and how they basically rule the biosphere is one book that we know for sure is on Bill Gates\u2019 reading list. It\u2019s also recommended in our holiday book guide, so you have no excuse. But if you\u2019ve already read \u201cI Contain Multitudes,\u201d here\u2019s an alternate selection: \u201cThis Is Your Brain on Parasites\u201d\u2018<\/p>\n

\"\"\u2018Magic and Loss: The Internet as Art\u2019:<\/strong> Can the Internet and smartphone apps evoke sentiments on a scale with Nabokov and Nietzsche? They do for New York Times Magazine writer Virginia Heffernan. She\u2019s been documenting the Internet\u2019s development for decades, yet still manages to bring a beginner\u2019s mind to the task. \u201cTentatively, avidly, or kicking and screaming, nearly 2 billion of us have taken up residence on the Internet, and we\u2019re still adjusting to it,\u201d she writes. Alternate selection: \u201cThe Jazz of Physics.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\u2018The Revenge of Analog: Real Things and Why They Matter\u2019:<\/strong> One of the lessons of the past year is that physical storefronts still matter, even for an online retail juggernaut like Seattle\u2019s own Amazon. David Sax, who writes about business and culture for Bloomberg Businessweek, The New Yorker and other publications, tells the stories of innovators who take advantage of \u201canalog\u201d tools ranging from pen and paper, to board games and vinyl records, to brick and mortar.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u2018The Terranauts\u2019:<\/strong> T.C. Boyle\u2019s latest novel plays to one of his favorite themes: how human foibles come to the fore despite our (seemingly) best intentions. The setting is based on the real-life Biosphere 2 project in Arizona, but Boyle turns the dial up to 11 with withering wit. It\u2019s easy to imagine this saga of grand ideals, backstabbing and sexual politics taking place on Mars someday. (And in case you\u2019re wondering, T.C. is no close relative of mine.)<\/p>\n

\"\"\u2018How to Make a Spaceship: A Band of Renegades, an Epic Race and the Birth of Private Spaceflight\u2019: <\/strong>Bay Area journalist Julian Guthrie tells the story of space commercialization mostly from the perspective of XPRIZE entrepreneur Peter Diamandis, but you\u2019ll also find revelations about the longstanding space ambitions of SpaceX founder Elon Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and Virgin founder Richard Branson. Even space geek Stephen Hawking weighs in with an afterword. Alternate selection: \u201cWhat\u2019s It Like in Space? Stories From Astronauts Who\u2019ve Been There.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\u2018The War on Science: Who\u2019s Waging It, Why It Matters, What We Can Do About It\u2019:<\/strong> The next four years could be a rocky time for science, based on President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s picks and pronouncements. Trump has said climate change is a hoax, Vice President-elect Mike Pence\u2019s views on evolution are murky at best, and Trump\u2019s choice for budget chief has questioned the need for government-funded research. For years, Shawn Lawrence Otto has kept his eye on the intersection of science and politics as a co-founder of ScienceDebate.org. Otto\u2019s book on the subject, \u201cThe War on Science,\u201d is a more urgent read now than it was when it was published in May.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u2018The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture\u2019: <\/b>What\u2019s a list of geek books without a nod to comic-book culture? Sure, there are plenty of compendiums out there, such as \u201cMarvel: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know,\u201d but the thoughtful comic-book nerd will gravitate toward this meta-saga about the Batman saga and what it says about American society, written by NPR book critic Glen Weldon.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u2018Sun Moon Earth: The History of Solar Eclipses From Omens of Doom to Einstein and Exoplanets\u201d:<\/strong> Tyler Nordgren, an astronomer who\u2019s also an artist and an author, gets you ready for next year\u2019s total solar eclipse. On Aug. 21, totality will be visible from a tiny slice of the United States stretching from the Oregon coast to South Carolina. Even if you\u2019re content with the partial phase, which will be visible everywhere in the Lower 48, Nordgren\u2019s book will give you a sense of the awesomeness and geekery behind the eclipse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What\u2019s Bill Gates reading now? We\u2019re taking a guess. (Gates Foundation Photo) Geeks and books go together like athletes and balls, but just as there are different sports, there are different types of geek reading. We\u2019ve put together a top-10 list of books on a wide spectrum of geeky topics, all published over the past […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5470,4418,4895,21],"class_list":["post-19123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-2016-in-review","tag-books","tag-science","tag-space"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19123"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19123\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}